We All Fall Down
by Wind Lane
Summary: If you wanted to take down the most justice minded people around, maybe you should turn their own sword upon them. Justice may be blind, but don’t forget that the scales are only in one of her hands. Not terribly serious fic. One Shot.


(A/N) I decided, after reading one too many a fic where the Titans grow up and move on with their lives, that I needed to write one of those kinds of stories too. Except I want mine to be a little funny, a little serious, and to make sense. Too many of these Titans all grown up fics have them stop being super heroes…just like Superman and Professor X did, right? Anyway, if this isn't funny or anything else I was trying for, you can flame all you want. I even hope someone does…I'm just like that.

Disclaimer: I own the entire collection of Harry Potter books on CD as read by Jim Dale. He's really good, go check out these quality products. I do not own the Teen Titans, and the people that do will never sell them to me since I could only offer about fifty bucks. I also don't own Guy LeFlour.

We All Fall Down – If you wanted to take down the most justice minded people around, maybe you should turn their own sword upon them. Justice may be blind, but don't forget that the scales are only in one of her hands.

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A television clicks on and an announcer is heard as various shots of Jump City are shown. "Fame…power…money…scandal…it's the F! Jump City True Celebrity Tale!" The announcer's deep droning voice seemed to be trying to sound cool but unobtrusive. Like he wanted people to be able to ignore him if they just liked the pictures. "On tonight's F! Jump City True Celebrity Tale, the Teen Titans."

The scene changes to a montage of various shots of the Teen Titans saving the city from the likes of Mad Mod, Gizmo, Slade, and Dr. Light. "The Teen Titans were once Jump City's personal protectors. A group of young superheroes that relied on their various powers and teamwork to overcome every villain and challenge they faced. No one saw their coming downfall at the hands of one of the city's least likely terrors, Mad Mod."

A slow pan of Titans' Tower and then various angles of the interior are next seen. "Not much is known about the origins of the five members of the Teen Titans other than the robotically enhanced Cyborg. In an interview from five years ago he talked about the coming together of these extraordinary teens."

Cyborg is seen smiling affably at some off camera interviewer. "Well, it wouldn't really be OK for me to tell you where any of the others came from, kind of personal and all. But me? Almost anybody can find out where I got my powers. All the parts were made in Japan!" He laughed heartily at his little joke and after wiping his eye, calmed back down. A relaxed, but obviously forced casual look came over Cyborg. "Seriously though, I got hurt real bad in the accident that killed both of my parents. Some really smart people knew how to fix me with cybernetics and this is the end result." He said gesturing to himself. "Well…not this really. I've made so many upgrades, improvements, and repairs on myself that there isn't much left from the original pieces they used. I keep all the old stuff…mostly as keepsakes, but also as a reminder of the people who saved my life."

"So, how did the five of you end up in Jump City together?"

A nostalgic smile and a slightly sad look came on Cyborg's face. "That would have been Robin. He organized everything from the beginning. He had funding from an anonymous investor who would pay for whatever we needed if he could form a strong enough team. He did a lot of research and decided on us. He found each of us and told us what the plan was." Cyborg smiled much more happily as he continued. "Of course we'd all heard of him. Batman's sidekick and all, but what impressed us more was how well he thought things out. It was easy accepting him as the leader of the team."

The view of Cyborg froze and slowly dissolved into a picture of Robin. "Robin could not be found for comment on the Teen Titans' early days since he hasn't been seen since their premature break up. Instead, we found the third in command of the super powered group, Raven.

Raven is seen in a white leotard and cloak sitting very still with a look on her face that suggests the interviewer has to tread carefully. "Yes, Robin was the one who brought us all together. I was the last one to join, so I got filled in about the others. He told me about each of them as a way to help me decide to join. Beast Boy was the strangest one to me, since his power sounded the most…unusual. Robin is merely an exceptional person. Starfire is like most any other person from her planet, and Cyborg gets his advantages through technology. I was a little disappointed to find that Beast Boy was also the joker of the group and the most immature."

Her picture froze and the announcer again came in. "As the team earned the trust and respect of the city they guarded, a tower was constructed on an artificial island set just offshore into the bay. The tower came to be a symbol of the protection that the young heroes provided as well as a beacon to ward off the evildoers who would seek to overthrow the bustling metropolis."

Scenes from various battles are shown. An ancient looking Robin breaks mad Mod's cane. Starfire is charging up her star bolts while facing off against her sister. A slow motion view of the beast runs across a shot with Starfire quickly flying into view. Dr. Light flops out of Raven's cloak curled up into a ball, his clothes looking ragged. During all of these scenes the announcer says, "Villain after villain sought to topple the Teen Titans, but time and time again they failed. It seemed like these super youths were never to be defeated, even when a potential new Teen Titan had turned against them."

Terra is shown with her Slade-bot army marching through the city when the Teen Titans suddenly attack her. Beast Boy's voice comes in over the images of their battle. "She was really troubled. We had tried to take her in, but she got scared when Robin figured out that she couldn't fully control her powers. Slade found her and corrupted her. It wasn't until the very end when she saw how bad what she was doing was. She killed Slade and herself when she stopped a volcano from erupting right onto the city. There's still a plaque in a cave with her stone body where people go to see her. They drop coins at her feet like she's some Catholic saint that protects them from earthquakes and volcanoes and stuff. We use the money for scholarships for poor or homeless kids who want to get a college education."

"But the good times didn't last. Next, the downfall of the Teen Titans." The show's title screen is shown and fades to black.

"Hey everybody! Come on down to Jim-Bo-Bob-Greg-Schnerklferg-Sally-Billy-Ray's used car emporium! We got enough cars that every person in this here city could buy one and we'd still have enough for the babies that ain't even been borneded yet!" A typical used car lot is seen except there doesn't appear to be an end to the rows of cars in the background. An ugly man in a cowboy hat with a squirrel tail hanging from the back wearing a bright pink vest, yellow dress shirt that he's managed to not tucked in, blue track shorts, and go-go boots smiles maniacally at the camera. "I can get a car for anyone for any price! You just come on down and we'll set you in a nice little number like this!" He turns and shows off a freshly painted Edsel. "That's right, this little beauty can be yours for just two easy payments of twelve dollars…plus handling fee, holding fee, taxes, license, paint, wheels, engine, transmission, tail pipe, muffler, little jiggly hula bobble dance, blinker fluid, muffler bearings, steering wheel, and registration. So come on down right now to Jim-Bo-Bob-Greg-Schnerklferg-Sally-Billy-Ray's used car emporium, where every deal gets a free tuna sandwich!"

The commercial fades out and the F! Jump City True Celebrity Tale title screen is shown. It fades into a black background with the words Teen Titans in stark white letters. "The Teen Titans, Jump City's own super team was on the rise and crime was rapidly declining when the five youths were hit with their most devastating blow." Glamour shots of Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg are shown. To complete the set, paparazzi style shots of Raven are thrown into the mix. She doesn't look happy in any of them. "A freshly paroled Mad Mod, found a way to bring the quintet to their knees and get them out of the picture."

A grinning Mad Mod is sitting in a high backed and well-cushioned chair. He is wearing his Union Jack suit and absentmindedly twirling his cane in his hand. "Well, I had all that time in the pokey to sit and think about what those little tykes had done and all about how I was gonna get revenge on 'em and all, when another bloke got me interested in figurin' out your Yankee laws, curious things really. I found a way to bring 'em in front of a magistrate…that's a judge to you lovey…and the whole little band was snapped up. It was the most fun I had in a courtroom in my whole life."

Mad Mod is seen still talking, though the announcer's voice is being played over the images. "The appropriately named Mad Mod discovered that our fine state didn't have a law allowing for a group of vigilantes to set up whether the city approved them or not. A judge in the state superior court was forced to uphold the law." All five of the Teen Titans are seen in a courtroom drawing of them sitting behind the defendant's table, a lawyer next to Robin. Mad Mod and the state prosecutor sit at the other table. Robin looks angry, but controlled. Cyborg looks stern and grave. Beast Boy and Starfire look confused and worried. And Raven looks stone faced, but a small pile of powder is in front of her where her water glass should be. The announcer continued. "This effectively caused Titans' Tower to be seized by the state, and a cease and desist order to be submitted to the five heroes."

"As if to add insult to injury, it was also discovered that Starfire, the group's upbeat beauty, was an illegal alien. When asked if she had a green card she had reportedly turned to Robin and asked what it was and why the color green was so important. It was less than a week when she was sent to her home world of Tamaran. Along with the deportation of Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven were found to be underage so that they were still subject to truancy laws. They were soon entered into one of Jump City's local high schools to finish out their education."

During all of this, scenes of Starfire's deportation are seen. She is tightly hugging Robin for quite a while before she enters her ship and takes off. Then various school photos of Raven and Beast Boy show how they coped with their required education. Raven's shots again appear to be of the paparazzi variety, she is in several advanced classes, and even in gym she excels as a photo shows her floating above the floor of a volley ball court, the ball engulfed in a black field, hurtles towards a rather prissy looking girl talking on a cell phone. Beast Boy is shown joking around with a group of people, getting turned down by various girls, and finally the two stand side by side with their diplomas, Raven still looking straight faced while Beast Boy grins so largely that his eyes shut.

Beast Boy's voice comes back in over this last photo. "I never would have graduated without Raven. I never really went to school before we were forced to and I was way out of my element…except in between classes." We now see the green teen smiling at this thought. "She tutored me and I watched her back in the lunch quad. A lot of the snotty girls called her creepy and tried to pull jokes on her. Not that I mind a good prank every now and then, but they were just doing them to be mean and humiliate Rae." He let out a sheepish giggle. "I scared 'em pretty bad one time by changing into a giant squid. They didn't bug Raven any more after that."

"What were the rest of the Teen Titans doing while you were in school?"

Beast Boy thought for a second. "Well, Cyborg had already passed his GED, he took it after we were broken up, and he didn't really need college since the people that fixed him up taught him all about the technology they used. He ended up working for Wayne Corp. in their R&D department. He's always had a real knack for inventing cool tech stuff." Beast Boy smiled to himself at the thought of Cyborg's tinkering. "Robin just kind of disappeared. Nobody really knew who he was, he even wore his mask to bed, so we all just lost touch with him. Starfire, I think, was trying to figure out how to apply for citizenship. It was really hard for her since she doesn't understand our culture really, and there's no Tamaranean embassy."

"With the Teen Titans fully disbanded and locked out of the hero business, criminals of every kind fought for control of Jump City. It was in this dark time that a Batman-like vigilante emerged. The black clad Nightwing came to the aid of the ailing city." Brief glimpses of Nightwing are seen as he dumps tied up criminals at police stations or as he vanishes from sight as the police and media arrive on the scene of some foiled crime. "Many have speculated that this new hero was Robin merely reinventing himself. These views were further pressed when the alien Starfire was finally granted U.S. citizenship and joined in public support of both Nightwing and for lawmakers to make provisions for heroes to once again be able to take up a stand against the rampant crime that held the city in its grips."

Starfire is seen sitting in a small room with a fireplace softly glowing in the background. She still wears her purple outfit, though she looks much less airy then she used to. "In my attempts at returning to this planet I learned of the tape of red and how much of a hindrance it is. In learning of how the government of my new home works, I have realized how important it is for all of us to take part in the ruling of this country."

"What about Nightwing?

She smiles, a soft pink comes to her cheeks. "I have found the actions of Nightwing to be very good and worthy of our support. I have worked hard with our local senators to bring the actions and services he performs into the realm of the legal. The bill that was eventually drafted is what allows heroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash to be part of such a large organization as the Justice League. They are doing much good, and I think it would be wrong for us to prevent what their abilities allow them to do for all of us."

The interviewer must have smiled warmly at Starfire, for her face smiled brightly back. "You truly are the most optimistic person I have ever met. Now, we all know that the bill eventually did pass…"

"After it had also gone through the tape of red."

"Yes," a small laugh, "What did each of you do before then though?"

Starfire smiled excitedly. "I was still learning of the politics here in the City of Jump. This has been the only city I have felt of as home. The tower was still available, as the city had refused its use in our absence. They permitted me to stay there. Raven went to the college and began the studying in books!"

The screen cuts from Starfire to Raven, the latter still in the same interview she was seen earlier. She looks less pleased than before though. The interviewer's teeth can almost be heard chattering in fear. "Yes, I went to the local university and studied literature, eventually getting a doctorate in the subject. I specialized in gothic and Victorian writings since I've been reading them since I learned to read. I ended up teaching more classes than I took after I got my masters since I'd read and analyzed so much more than the other professors. It was a nice job, and I only taught graduates, so they were people who wanted to be there. Much easier than undergrads."

"What about relationships? Did you ever meet anyone?"

Raven's eyes narrowed. "I don't talk about things like that with anyone."

"Aw, come on! You'd tell it better than I could!" A voice from off camera chimed in.

Raven's narrowed eyes turned to this new person in the interview.

"Rae, you know that doesn't work on me anymore."

"I can always hope." Her eyes didn't lose their intensity, but the smallest of smiles seemed to come and go on her mouth. "I only said I would do this stupid interview because you begged for almost an hour."

"Yeah, but do you really want me to try and explain how it happened?" His tone of voice conveyed perfectly how foolish he thought this idea was.

Raven's gaze finally softened…until she looked back at the interviewer. "Fine. While I was earning my bachelors, Beast Boy was in community college. He eventually graduated…after four years."

"Hey! I didn't know what I wanted to do yet!" The voice again piped up from off camera.

A light smirk came on Raven's face. "Well, after he finally got out of Jump City Junior College, he joined me at the university. We had a class together, he was studying veterinary medicine, and we started hanging out again."

"A class together? You were teaching it!"

"Shut up. Anyway, we just started dating around the time I got my masters and we were married about a year and a half later."

The interviewer braved another question. "How did he ask you, and what was the wedding like."

Raven sighed and stifled a wistful smile while she remembered the moments. "He snuck into my dorm room while I was teaching a class and grabbed a few of my books…"

Beast Boy suddenly appeared at Raven's side, kneeling on the floor next to her chair. "Tell them all of it!" He turned toward the interviewer. "I grabbed the most worn out books there 'cause I knew those would be her favorites."

Raven smiled a little and continued. "Yes, he took my favorite books and read them." She caught Beast Boy starting to open his mouth and quickly added. "He studied them…for about a month. He memorized the parts that I either had marked or the parts that he thought were best. He came up to me after my last class of the day on a Friday and asked me to a picnic supper. During dinner he recited what he'd memorized and asked me about each piece. After he'd finished that he told me he'd memorized the bits he did because he wanted to memorize everything about me. He said that he'd need a lot of time to do it since he didn't have a very good memory and then he proposed, saying that it was the best way for him to continue his work." Raven's smile wasn't so small anymore as she gazed lovingly at Beast Boy who was holding her hand. He kissed it briefly.

Her mood obviously softened, Raven continued unbidden. "Our wedding was small, just a few friends. Neither of us has any living family. Robin even showed up. We had wanted to invite him, but no one knew where he was, so it was a real shock to everyone. That was the last time we ever saw him."

Beast Boy grinned sneakily. "Yeah, just once I would've liked to have snatch off his mask."

"Raven and Beast Boy weren't the only ones to find love along this rocky journey as regular citizens. Starfire also married. She and Bruce Wayne heir, Dick Grayson wedded at a private ceremony in Gotham City." Paparazzi shots of Dick Grayson and Starfire are shown. They are seen at various restaurants and a few nightspots. The majority of the shots are of them sharing kisses. "Both refuse to discuss how they met, as they both are very prominent members of their respective communities and major political figures. Grayson, as the senior vice president of Wayne Enterprises has numerous ties in the political community, and Starfire has her ties to the Thompson Hero Bill that was passed this past August."

"When we return to the F! Jump City True Celebrity Tale, the long awaited reunion of the remaining Teen Titans." The show's title screen again is seen before it fades to black.

"Friends, have escalating taxes and rising prices put a pinch on your pocket book?" A sad couple is shown peering into the husband's empty wallet. "Not finding the funds needed for your leisure time activities anymore?" A teenager is seen looking at an arcade game; he then pulls his pockets inside out only to find them vacant. "Well don't fret one minute more! Joe's Fish Head Reseller is now hiring and accepting all applicants!" The outside of a largish looking warehouse comes on screen; a sign displays the name of the shop as Joe's Fish Head Reseller with a large smiling fish on the sign. "We need fish gutters, display managers, scent controllers, fish body movers, price checkers, cashiers, stock persons, and eye replacement specialists." It cuts to a quick shot of several smiling employees, their soft blue uniforms all smeared with fish guts, blood, and scales. "So if you need some extra pocket money, and would like a job in the fish head reseller industry, just follow your nose to our bayside warehouse!" The shot changes back to the view of the outside of the warehouse with the address and phone number superimposed over the picture. "Remember! Joe's Fish Head Reseller, if it's got gills, guts, and a head…we'll buy it!"

The F! Jump City True Celebrity Tale title screen comes up and fades again into the black background that only says Teen Titans. A montage of shots taken from the interviews seen so far in the show cycle through as the announcer continues. "The Teen Titans, once Jump City's top crime fighting force, shattered and forced to pick up the pieces. They had each had their struggles and hardships, but each of them seemed to be making it in the world they were forced to live in. A world that didn't allow them to use their abilities to help others."

"That's always the hardest part." Cyborg sat, looking rather glum at the interviewer. "I mean, sure, life's less dangerous now, but I wasn't forced to be a hero, I chose it. It hurts some times when I think about all the advances I've made with my tech and how I can't use it to help people out there like I want to. I can do the little things, but I was doing those as a Titan too. I miss it."

"You never really stop trying to help other people. I was in this park when some mugger tried to steal a lady's purse. I changed into a cheetah and chased him down. I didn't attack him, but I scared him so bad that he dropped the purse." Beast Boy looked down in sadness. "But he got away because I can't just go after people like that anymore. It felt OK giving the lady her purse back, but I didn't like how it made me feel to let some criminal go free."

Raven sat stoically, Beast Boy still at her side on the ground. "Do I ever miss being a hero? Of course I do. I don't know how to explain it though. I can do things that not many others can and I can't use that to help people." She frowned darkly and Beast Boy stroked her arm soothingly in response. "I keep a newspaper clipping collection. It doesn't have anything about the Titans in it. Nothing like that, it has every person who's died as a result from something we could have helped with. I don't want to go into how much that rate has risen since we were kicked out of the tower. Starfire has already broadcast that to half the country by now." Raven's eyes closed, as if to fight off tears. "Do you know what it's like to lose a child? I do, even though we haven't had any yet. I can feel the pain of every parent, every sibling, and every friend. It's part of my powers. Funerals of those who died wrongfully or by some accident that was preventable by people like us send wave after wave of pain that I pick up like a satellite dish. I would never wish that kind of pain on anyone, and yet I have to go through it every time I have to make a new clipping because of something I could have done but wasn't allowed to."

"I could not have made it through these many years without the work that I have done to make it possible for me to once again seek the protection of others." Starfire sat at a desk in some office. "The senator has allowed the use of this office to me and I have been most grateful. We are making much progress and hope to prove victorious in this fight to have our bill ratified."

The shot dissolves to the steps of congress. People are seen heading up and down, busy with their day's tasks. "The Thompson Hero Bill was eventually passed, and many were curious as to how keen the many superheroes throughout the country would be to getting registered to participate in legal heroics. The bill allowed for heroes to keep their alternate identities secret as well as providing for all paperwork to be filled out by dictation. As many now know, a hero merely has to go to a DMV office, fill out the proper forms, submit to a psych evaluation, and allow some identification pictures to be taken of them in costume to be used to help prevent imposters." A DMV office is shown with the usual long line that never seems to move. A large man in blue spandex stands halfway through it while a very muscular girl floats in place for pictures. "The critics of the bill said that millions would be wasted in forcing heroes to register through legal action. Their fears were never realized, as the number of heroes who refused registration was less than two percent the estimated number of heroes in the country. Some say the percentage is off from the people who tried to fool the system and get registered despite no super powers, but these numbers have yet to be proven."

"Today, the Teen Titans are still no more." A shot of the tower at sunrise backdrops this monologue. "Now, the superhero group is simply known as The Titans. The speculation of Nightwing being Robin is given much more credit these days as he and the ex-super villain, Jinx are the only new members of the team. Crime in Jump City has hit an all time low since their return, and many hope the country never goes through this kind of madness again, while some still call the superheroes just as bad as the villains. At the very least, they worked within the law for the most part and on our side. From F! Fan Fiction Network, this is Guy LeFlour wishing you all a good night."

The television screen went black as it was clicked off. "So…what DID you do while we all had to go into normal life?" Beast Boy grinned from his seat on the couch next to Raven.

"I'm the heir of a millionaire…do you really think they can stop me from doing my duty as a hero?"

"Starfire," Raven chimed in. "Does he take the mask off for you at least?"

Starfire blushed a little. "Sometimes I like his wearing of the mask. It is how he looked when I met him."

"Sounds kind of kink to me." Cyborg replied, smiling broadly.

"As kinky as dating me?" Jinx asked mischievously. Everyone laughed at Cyborg's blushing.

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(A/N) Sorry about the lameness after the show ended. (Unless you thought the whole thing was lame, then I'm not sorry you insensitive jerk! **sniffle**) I wasn't really sure how to get out of the Titan's common room. I wanted to end in there so that I could put in Nightwing/Robin's only line. I always thought that was a funny thing that he's automatically rich, and people try and make you worry about his future if he stopped being a Titan. Anyway, let me know what you think.


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